News Feed Discussions Hernia mesh fixation questions Reply To: Hernia mesh fixation questions

  • Jnomesh

    Member
    September 19, 2017 at 11:34 pm

    I’m a little late to the game here but I would like to echo some of good intentions points. When I had my mesh implanted I had a hematoma and ER visit a few days post surgery. Only now do I know that this was a very large hematoma and that it was right where the mesh was placed.
    when I went back to the implanting surgeon 3 times during the first year to complain I didn’t feel right, he did an examination and said no reoccurrence. I told him I felt heaviness and burning in the stomach. Now when I search the web and see studies concerning mesh things pop up like a hematoma, or heaviness in the stomach/abdomen are signs that should ne considered that something may be wrong with the mesh.
    but all my surgeon looked for was a recurrence. Fast forward 6 years later and when the pain took a turn for the worse and became debilitating I saw two other hernia “experts” again after examination I heard the words “no recurrence”. Then a cat scan was ordered and cam back normal. And then both sent me off to pain management. fortunately I didn’t give up and since the medical community couldn’t advocate for me I had to for myself. 6 months of tons of tests tons of doctors and tons of research led me to a surgeon who saw in the same exact cat scan what the other two surgeons were given-that indeed the mesh was bent. And when he went in to operate it was even worse then the cat scan showed-it was balled up and hard as a rock. It was the bard 3D maxx hernia mesh and while I’m not a fan of any mesh this is pure crap. There are a lot of people suffering from this mesh but i degress.
    again put aside the mesh whether it is good or bad argument-and I certainly have my views on this topic-but my story like so many others who HAVE suffered from mesh gone bad is the reason mesh being the gold standard has to be revisited.
    it is unequivocally wrong that when mesh goes wrong the patient is left by himself, isolated and quite frankly left to think he or she is going crazy.
    i can’t think of anything so cruel. The fact that there are only a handful of surgeons who can handle the challenge of removing mesh and can read a damn cat scan or MRI to see if something is indeed wrong is again disturbing and wrong.
    the fact that dr. Ramshaw has a year long waiting list and I’ve recently heard isn’t seeing new patients for mesh issues Bc he is backed up again is beyond troubling-to few surgeons who can handle this procedure and to many patients that need there help.
    the fact that I had to do hundreds of hours of research to find a surgeon to remove my mesh travel out of state and pay thousands of dollars for the surgery again is cruel and completely unfair.
    ive read numerous testimonies from people that when they’ve asked surgeons about mesh removal they’ve been told they will die, lose a testicle or a limb or it just can’t be done. We know now that isn’t true. One surgeon told me removingmymesh would be like prying tar off the the cement floor with pliers. So patients, yes patients are being lied to or if not lied to and the surgeon truly
    believes this then this is a problem.
    so what is the solution to the “gold standard” of mesh that took away 6 1/2 years of my life and affected my wife and 2 kids and that has left me with a uncertain future going forward?
    well how about this?
    line up the thousands upon thousands of surgeons who implant mesh for hernias and ask them these two questions:
    if something goes wrong with the mesh do you feel confident you can remove it?
    can you confidently read cat scans or MRI’s to determine mesh issues?
    an answer of no to either of these questions and sorry but you can’t implant hernia mesh!
    or at least make it mandatory that they have to provide patients with these facts.
    Hi MR or Mrs blank-you have a hernia and it should be repaired with mesh but I have to to tell you if something:
    mesh shrinks, can get entangled in your nerves, migrate, become rock hard, fold over, attach itself to the bladder spermatic cord and other structures, become infected, cause a hematoma and If something goes wrong with the mesh
    a) I don’t know how to remove it and yeah also
    b) if there is a issue with the mesh-when I order a MRI or cat scan I don’t know how to read it to look for mesh complications.
    would you like to proceed?
    lets see how fast pure tissue repairs make a come back and at the very least are offered as an option
    for hernia repair again Bc it was never made an option for me.